Automatic air-coupling.



"c. H. M. BIRD.

AUTOMATIC AIR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29| 1914.

Patented May16,1916.

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C. H. M. BIRD.

AUTOMATIOAIR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1914.

Patented May16, 1916.

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APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1914.

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Patented May16, 1916.

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Wihacooaoi- THE COLUMBlA PLANQGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D. i

ionrr" CHARLES H. M. BIRD, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC AIR-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

Application filed April 29, 1914. Serial No. 835,295.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. BIRD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutoprovision of an air coupler as specified which.

has associated therewith a bleeding valve which will be automaticallyoperated by the action of the coupler for instantaneously bleeding theair line upon the disconnection of the cars.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention consistsin such novel features of construction, combination and arrangement ofparts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference designatelike or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of the improved automatic air coupler, Fig.2 is a central longitudinal sectional view through the coupler showingthe air line passage controlling valve closed and the bleeding valveopen. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectional view through theimproved air coupler, showing the air passage controlling valve open andthe bleeding valve closed, or the position in which the various parts ofthe coupler are when the cars upon which the couplers are mounted arecoupled one with the other, Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view on the line44 of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 2,Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view on the line 66 of Figs. 1 andB, andFig. 7 is a cross sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the outercasing of the air coupler, which is cylindrical in cross section, andhas an enlarged end 2 formed thereupon, which end is provided withinternal screw threads 3 for connection with a pipe (not shown) which iscarried by a railway car or coach, and forms a part of the an linethereof.

The other end of the casing 1 has a pair of bosses 4 and 5 formedthereupon and disposed diametrically opposite to each other. The bosses4 and 5 are provided with longitudinally extending openings 6 and 7, inwhich openings are slidably seated the pins 8 and 9, which pins havetheir ends 10 enlarged so as to prevent the complete movement of thepins through the openings, and to hmit the movement of the pins withinthe openings 6 and 7 The pins 8 and 9 pro- 1801? out of the bosses 4 and5 and have their pro ect1ng ends enlarged or provided with heads 11 and12, the heads 11 and 12 of the pins 8 and 9 being inserted in openings14, which openings are formed in the annular collar 15, which collar isformed upon the inner end of the bumper 16. Coil springs 17 and 18 aremounted about the pins 8 and 9, and have their ends engaging the forwardterminal ends of the bosses 4and 5 and heads 11 and 12 of the pins 8 and9, tending to hold the collar 15 in an extended position with respect tothe bosses and the pipe or casing 1. The heads 11 and 12 of the pins 8and 9 are held properly positioned within the openings 14 by bolts orpins 19, which pins are inserted transversely through the head and aremounted in openings 20, which openings extend through the collar 15transversely to the openings 14, and are of greater length than thediameter of the pins, so as to permit of a certain amount of lost motionof the pins within the collar 15.

The bumper 16 hasa plurality of fingers or tongues 21 formed upon itsouter face and extending entirely about the circumference of the same,which fingers are adapted for connection with similar fingers carried byanother coupler (not shown) so as to form a firm connection between thetwo couplers upon separate cars (not shown).

The bumper 16 is provided with a pair of diametrically oppositelydisposed slots 22 and 23, which slots have seated therein the terminalends of a rod 24. The rod 24 extends diametrically across the bumper 16,and it has connected thereto a rod 25, which rod extends transversely tothe rod 24, and is connected to a valve cone 26, which valve cone isseated in the valve seat 27 formed within the casing 1, and near theterminal end of the casing, upon which the bosses 4 and 5 are mounted.The valve cone 26 controls the passage of the air through the casing 1,and consequently through the various pipes of the air line of a train(not shown). The cone valve 26 has a ring 28 similar to an ordinarypiston ring seated in an annular extending groove, which ring isprovided for taking up the wear occasioned by the frictional contactbetween the cone and the walls or sides of the valve seat 27. The end ofthe casing 1, in which the valve seat 27 is formed, has extendingtherefrom an annular rim or flange 30, which rim is connected in anysuitable manner to a length of flexible tubing 31, which flexible tubingis connected to the bumper 16 and has the rod 24 extending throughopenings 32 formed therein; the flexible tubing 31 forms a connectionbetween the bumper l6 and the casing 1, so as to complete a connectionbetween air couplers carried by separate railway cars.

The cone valve 26 has secured to its inner or rear end a rod 33, whichrod has a cone 34 mounted thereupon, and extends entirely through thecasing 1, being slidably seated in a guideway 35 formed in the block 36.The block 36 is adjustably seated in the end of the casing 1, which isprovided with the internal screw threads 3, and the block is providedwith external screw threads which engage the internal screw threads 3for the proper adjustment of the block within the casing.

The casing 1 has formed thereupon an auxiliary casing 40, whichauxiliary casing is provided with a valve seat 42 in which is seated acone valve 43 for controlling the passage of air from the casing 1 intothe casing 40. The cone Valve 43 has a stem 44 projecting downwardlytherefrom and into the casing 1, which stem has its lower terminal endengaging the side of the cone 34, which is carried by the rod 33.

The valve stem 45, which projects upwardly from the upper end of thecone valve 43 is slidably seated in a collar 46, which collar isdetachably mounted within the upper open end of the casing 40, so thataccess may be gained to the interior of the casing for reconstruction ofthe valve or the like. A spiral spring 47 is coiled about the valve stem45, and has one end thereof engaging the upper edge of the cone valve43, while the other end engages the collar 46 and it tends to hold thecone valve 43 securely seated within the valve seat 42 at all times,except when the cone valve is forced upwardly in the valve seat by thecone 34.

The casing 40 is provided with a plurality of spaced openings 48 formedin the outer surface of the same, which openings are provided for thepurpose of permitting the egress of air out of the casing 40 andconsequently out of the casing 1 through the valve seat 42, for bleedingthe air system upon disconnection of any one of the cars or coaches ofwhich the train is formed.

In the operation of the improved automatic air coupler: When a train, ortwo cars on a train, which are equipped with the improved automatic aircoupler as specified are coupled together, the bumping or coupling ofthe cars will cause the bumpers 16 to engage each other, placing theprongs or fingers 21 in interlocking relation one with the other, andthe bumping of the cars and the bumpers 16 together, will compress orcrimp the flexible connection 31, and force the bumper l6 inwardlytoward the casing 1, which will move the rod 25, through movement of therod 24, thereby moving the valve cone 26 longitudinally within thecasing 1 and opening the passage of air through the valve seat 27,permitting of the connection of the air line between the various coachesor cars which are being coupled together. The compressing of theflexible connection 31 also compresses the springs 17 and 18, forcingthe rods 8 and 9 longitudinally within theopenings 6 and 7, as isclearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The movement of the valve cone26 within the casing 1 will also move the cone 34, which is carried bythe rod 33, causing the stem or pin 44 to slide along the decliningupper surface of the cone 34 and permitting the spring 47 to close thepassage between the casings l and 40, to prevent the egress of air outof the casing 1 through the bleed valve casing 40.

Immediately upon the uncoupling of the meeting cars of the train, theseparation of the cars will move the bumpers 16 from engagement witheach other, at which time the springs 17 and 18 will force the buifersoutwardly away from the casing 1, moving the valve cone 26 within thecasing and seating the same in the valve seat 27 and preventing thepassage of air into the casing l. During the closing sliding movement ofthe valve cone 26, the stem 44 will move upwardly along the inclinedsurface of the cone 34 and it will force the valve 43 upwardly againstthe tension of the spring, opening the communication between the casing1 and the casing40, for permitting the air which is contained within theair pipes carried by the car to pass out of the casing 1 through theopening 42 and out of the bleed valve casing 40 through the openings 48,thereby automatically bleeding the air system of the train. Thebleedvalve is constructed so that the air will gradually bleed from thecasing 1, in unsufficient quantities to apply the brakes to the train.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of themethod of operation of the improved automatic air coupler will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains, and, while in the foregoing description, the principle ofthe operation of this invention has been described, together withvarious features of construction, it is to be understood that certainminor features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe altered to suit practical conditions provided such alterations arecomprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is 1. In an automatic air coupler, a casing havingcommunication with the air line pipes of a railway car, a cone valvecarried by said casing and operable longitudinally within the casing forcontrolling ingress of air thereinto, a bumper yieldably connected tosaid casing, means connecting said bumper and said cone valve wherebythe latter will be moved for permitting the ingress of air into thecasing upon the inward yielding movement of said bumper, and meanscarried by said casing operatively connected to said bumper forautomatically forcing it outwardly and cutting oif the ingress of airinto said casing.

2. In an automatic air coupler, a casing having communication with theair line pipes of a railway car, a cone valve carried by said casing andoperable longitudinally upon the casing for controlling the ingress ofair thereinto, a bumper yieldably connected to said casing, meansconnecting said bumper and said cone valve whereby the latter may bemoved for permitting the ingress of air into the casing upon the inwardyielding movement of said bumper, means carried by said casingoperatively connected to said bumper for automatically forcing itoutwardly and cutting oif ingress of air into said casing, and ableeding valve carried by said casing and controllable by the slidingmovement of the cone valve for antomatlcally bleeding said casing uponthe closing movement of said cone valve.

3. In an automatic air coupler, a casing having communication with theair line pipes of a railway car, a cone valve slidably seated in saidcasing and controlling the ingress of and passage of air into andthrough said casing, a bumper yieldably connected to one end of saidcasing, means connecting said bumper and said cone valve whereby saidcone valve will be moved for permitting the ingress of air into saidcasing upon the inward yieldable movement of said bumper, means carriedby said casing and connected to said bumper for automatically forcing itoutwardly and moving said cone valve and cutting off the ingress of airinto said casing, a rod connected to the inner end of said cone valveand extending lon gitudinally through said casing, a cone carried bysaid rod, a bleed valve formed upon said casing and having an inwardlyprojecting stem engaging the surface of said cone whereby the bleedvalve will be automatically operated upon movement of said cone valve.

4. In an automatic air coupler, a casing communicating with the air linepipe of a railway car, means carried by said casing for controlling theingress of air thereinto, saidmeans operable upon the coupling of tworailway cars for permitting ingress of air into said casing, a bleedvalve associated with said casing having a stem projecting radially intosaid casing, a cone slidable longitudinally in said casing andcontrolled by said first named means, for controlling the operation ofsaid bleeding valve.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. M. BIRD.

l/Vitnesses:

HUGH M. LOWE, J. CHASE.

Copies of this patent may be Obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). c.

